How to Use Pavers for Drives

Site Preparation

• 1

  Call or visit your local jurisdiction to see if you need a building permit to put in the paver driveway. Building without a permit results in fines. Call the utility companies that service your home to have them identify where the phone, electric and gas lines so you don't dig them up.

• 2

  Set the stakes up for the boundaries of the driveway, using as many as you need so the string you tie to the stakes stays taut.

• 3

  Estimate the amount of soil you have to remove from the driveway area to make room for the pavers and the sand. The finished driveway should be level with the surrounding yard or just slightly above so rainwater runs off.

• 4

  Designate a place in the yard for the extra dirt from the driveway area. If not, find someone to haul it off for you. Depending on the size of the driveway, you may have a lot of dirt to get rid of.

• 5

  Dig out the driveway area using hand tools and work gloves or hire someone to do it for you. Someone who has a compact tractor can do the job fairly quickly.

Substrate

• 6

  Determine the square footage of the driveway. Multiply the driveway's length, in inches, by its width, in inches, by the depth, in inches. Divide this total by 144. The substrate provider will use this number to determine how much sand or minus gravel you'll need for the project.

• 7

  Pour about 4 inches of minus gravel or sand in the driveway. Spread the material so it's even throughout the drive's surface. Minus gravel consists of the smallest particles of crushed rock and it packs firmly. The color variations and particle sizes in minus gravel distinguish it from sand, which is usually one color and uniformly sized throughout.

• 8

  Use a rake or a board with a rope on each end to drag across the surface. This evens out the substrate material.

• 9

  Tamp the surface so it's firm. You can make a tamper by nailing a square piece of wood to a stick or buy one from a home improvement center.

Pavers

• 10

  Measure the driveway and multiply the length by the width to estimate the number of pavers needed to cover the drive. The total square footage of the driveway needs to be divided by the square feet, or fraction of, that each paver measures.

• 11

  Place the concrete restraints along the length of the driveway first. Then lay the pavers in the design that you want. Interlocking pavers tend to slip and slide less, especially under the weight of moving vehicles.

• 12

  Sprinkle sand over the finished driveway and sweep it into the gaps between the pavers. Use more sand than you think you need because it settles over time. Repeat this process until the sand fills the gaps.